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Saudi airport attacks kill three and injure 36

Saudi aviation authorities reported three deaths and 36 injuries after attacks on airports in Riyadh and Abha. Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility, while the Saudi-led coalition disputed their account of the Riyadh strike. Damage and casualties at civilian transport hubs accompany renewed fighting in Yemen after a four-year ceasefire ended in July.

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Shattered glass at an empty airport terminal entrance, with a passenger aircraft and arid mountains beyond the apron.

Casualties reported at two civilian airports

Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority reported that attacks on airports in Riyadh and Abha killed three people and injured 36. The facilities were targeted on October 6 and 7. Yemen’s Houthis, the Iran-backed armed movement fighting the internationally recognised Yemeni government, claimed responsibility for attacks on both transport hubs.[1], [2]

The authority reported two deaths and 28 injuries at Abha, in southwestern Saudi Arabia, and one death and eight injuries at King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh. Both airports sustained damage, and the injured were taken to hospitals.[2]

Riyadh strike draws conflicting accounts

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed that a ballistic missile hit Riyadh’s airport and disrupted air traffic. The Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government said it intercepted the missile and destroyed its launch platform. The parties’ accounts of the strike and its results could not be independently verified.[1]

Yemen’s fighting resumed after a four-year truce

Yemen’s civil war resumed in July after a four-year ceasefire. The Saudi-led coalition has fought the Houthis since 2015 and announced air support for the Yemeni government’s counter-offensive on Monday. The government and the Houthis gave opposing accounts of territorial changes; military sources from both camps contacted by AFP reported no major change on the ground.[1]

References

  1. News sourceAFPSaudi authorities report three deaths in attacks on two airports↩1↩2↩3
  2. News sourceAeroTimeThree killed in attacks on Riyadh and Abha airports↩1↩2
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